Cabanatuan
Military Prisoner of War Camp #1
Nueva Ecija
Province
At the onset
consisted of three camps. Beginning October 1942, Camp #1 was used as a
hospital. Camp #2, located a few miles out of Cabanatuan City, at its peak
housed more than 1,000 prisoners. Camp #3, located a few miles farther
from Camp #2, at its peak housed more than 5,000 prisoners came from Corregidor
Island. Camp #1 was liberated on January 30, 1945.
CABANATUAN
to CALIFORNIA. Censored at camp by "Iwakana"
and upon arrival in the U.S. by Examiner "627."
Garrett Type
1 "Furyu Yubin" Prisoner of War Card circulated for the exclusive use of
prisoners of war incarcerated in the Philippines. Printed on light brown
card stock, measuring 135 x 90 mm.
The address
side (top) displays Japanese inscriptions printed in red and English inscription
in black. The Japanese inscriptions are arranged vertically in the style
of all Japanese postcards, while the english inscriptions are arranged
in Western style. At upper right (A) in kanji and hiragana is "Yubin Hagaki"
or "Postcard. "The framed kanji inscription at top right (B) is "Furyo
Yubin" or "Prisoner of War Mail." The rectangular box at top center (C)
is the censor mark with the kanji "Hito Furyo Shuyojo" or "Philippine Prisoner
of War Camp" in two lines, reading top to bottom, right to left, with "Ken'etsu
zumi" or "Censored" in the third line. In the space at the bottom (D) of
the censor mark is the personal seal of the censor. Handstamped with U.S.
Censor mark (E) upon arrival in New York.....The prisoners were not allowed
to inscribe a date on the early cards. (Garrett, pp215-216) |
